A Little Bit of Snowfall
by Amberdiamondswords
Summary: A snowstorm is attacking Metropolis and the power in Ratchet and Clank's apartment goes out, meaning no heat. As the two struggle to stay warm, something suddenly happens to Ratchet that is both scary...and heartbreaking.


**Weekly Oneshot #14: A Little Bit of Snowfall**

Clank had his hands on the large window at the front of the apartment; his brilliant green visual optics scanning the situation outside. Frozen water particles came down from the barely lit night sky, and it was covering the ground below. The result was clear: it was snowing. But this wasn't just a simple snowfall that happened every winter, this was going to turn into something much serious...according to the weather report, anyway. The forecast predicted a blizzard to come and hit the city that the two heroes lived in. Ratchet thought that there was nothing to worry about because they had never gotten a blizzard there before. Clank tried to listen to his friend but, by the look of the growing amount of snowfall, the Lombax was most likely wrong.

"You're worrying too much," Ratchet, who was wearing blue sweatpants and an orange sweater, said as he entered the living room and saw the robot. "It's just snow, Clank. We're not gonna get buried or anything."

"I know that, I am just slightly concerned about the people on the lower levels. The amount of snow coming down is becoming heavier by the minute. We will not get buried, but the people down there might be in trouble."

Ratchet walked over to Clank, picked him up the shoulders, and turned him around so the robot was facing him. When he placed him back on the floor, the Lombax poked Clank in the chest compartment with every syllable (though it was more playful than rough), " _They're_. _Fine_."

The little robot smacked Ratchet's hand lightly so it would go away, then he placed a hand on where he had poked him. "I still cannot help but be concerned. I have hardly ever seen snow in this city, and it is quite a phenomenon that we are getting this much now."

"Yeah, well if you ask me, this so called blizzard is going to crap out on us any second," the Lombax said, standing up and looking out the window. He placed his hands on his waist and looked outside at the snow. He had a very doubtful face at first, but after looking at the weather for a minute, that face began to disappear. It really was coming down hard. And it actually wasn't showing signs of seizing. Maybe he had spoke too soon about it stopping and everything being fine. His arms dropped, "Then again...anything can happen. If a robot can come crashing down on my home planet, I guess that a blizzard can suddenly appear out of nowhere. I still think that we're gonna be fine, though. We fought a giant Nether monster from another dimension; I think that we can handle a bit of snow."

"I suppose that you are right. Still, we should prepare ourselves in case of an emergency."

"Right. I'm gonna start by turning up the heat because it's getting pretty cold in here."

Ratchet walked over to the thermostat and turned it up a few degrees so the apartment would become warmer. He didn't know why, but the cold of the storm was somehow entering the apartment, making the place colder. But that coldness was no match for the thermostat. In a few moments, the apartment will be as warm as Pokitaru on a slightly cloudy day...

...

...

"Huh?" Ratchet quietly said as the temperature in the apartment stayed the same. He looked at the thermostat and tapped it a few times, wondering what was wrong. The Lombax's eyes went wide as several of the lights went out. And his ears stood up when all if the power went out. He remained still with a surprised look on his face, "...What?"

"Ratchet, the power went out! I am going to call the front desk and report this issue!" Clank yelled from another room.

"...What?"

Several minutes later, which were spent in complete darkness, Clank came out of the hallway and looked at Ratchet. His large green eyes being the brightest things in the entire apartment, and possibly the whole building. He had a disappointed look on his face as he shook his head and sighed.

"I just contacted the worker at the front desk. The snowstorm's intensity was too much for the power lines, and it forced a blackout. As of now, no one inside of this building has any power. They will try to get the backup generator working, but they said that they are not making any promises."

"... _What?_ " Ratchet said, still keeping his position from when the power went out. Clank tried his best to roll his pupiless optics as he grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him away from the thermostat. It was then that the Lombax snapped out of it and pulled his arm out of the robot's hands, nearly sending him flying across the room if he hadn't grabbed into the fuzzy arm. Ratchet brought Clank up to his face, "You're telling me that there's a snowstorm outside and we have no power?!"

"That is what I am trying to tell you, yes," Clank replied calmly with a nod.

"UGH! This freaking sucks!" Ratchet said, waving his arms around a little, making Clank hold on for dear life. "No power means no TV, no shower, no microwave, no oven, and no heat! And, according to the all of the darkness I'm seeing, no light! I'll have to use you as a flashlight until the lights come back on!"

"Ratchet, I am a robot, not a flashlight."

"Yeah but...wait a minute...I have an idea!"

"And I have a bad feeling about it, but go on."

"Our apartment doesn't have power, but you do."

"What are you implying?"

"Well, if I could get some cables and hook you up to the circuit breaker, you could just...you know..."

"Honestly, Ratchet, I am not a generator! I am not going to drain my battery just to bring power to the apartment! How exactly would I transfer the power anyway?"

"I dunno! You would like...fart or something and then all the light will come on," Ratchet said, laughing a little. But Clank wasn't amused. The robot carefully shifted from the Lombax's arm to the Lombax's shoulder. He flicked Ratchet's large ear when he made it, making him yelp. "OW! Hey, it was just an idea!"

"A very rude idea," Clank said, folding his arms over Ratchet's shoulder. "Anyway, we need to do something about this situation, and we need to be serious about it."

"Alright, Mr. Serious, what do you think that we should do?" Ratchet asked, putting his hands on his waist and glancing at the two bright circles hovering above his shoulder.

Clank got down off of Ratchet's shoulder and the two of them went to and dug through the supply closet in search of supplies. They found a flashlight, but it was out of batteries, and they could look for replacement ones in the limited light. So they just grabbed a few candles and scattered them around the living room and lighting them, creating a low amount of light. It wasn't much, but it was something. Ratchet would have done more, but the temperature in the apartment was dropping quickly, and that caused him to start shivering. He quickly grabbed a blanket and curled up on the couch, his large eyes reflecting the tiny flame dancing within the beige colored candle. Clank peeked from the side of the couch at his friend and gave him a curious look.

"Ratchet, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just cold. Without heat I don't have anything to support the warmth that my fur provides for me."

"Alright, well, there are still a few more candles that need to be lit. Do you think that you can help me with them?"

"Naaaaah," Ratchet said as he slowly fell onto his side, wrapping himself up tighter in the blanket.

Clank placed his hands on his waist and shook his head, "Honestly, you can be fairly lazy at times. It is frustrating."

"I'm cold, Clank. I'll be shivering so much that I'll end up lighting something in fire when I try to light one of the candles. You have it easy. You're a robot, so you have an internal heater that makes you wa...wait a minute..."

Clank looked at Ratchet weirdly when he had suddenly stopped his sentence. What exactly was he thinking right now? When the little robot tried to ponder it, he was surprised when Ratchet suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into the blanket, embracing him tightly. He struggled to get out of the Lombax's grip, but it was too tight for him to escape. He became very annoyed when Ratchet placed his head on top of his metallic one. What in the world was this Lombax doing? Whatever it was, it was somewhat irritating, and Clank wanted to be let go. And he was actually let go of when Ratchet's eyes went wide and he quickly tossed Clank out of his arms and onto the other side of the couch.

"AHH! What the heck? You're not warm at all! It was like I was hugging an ice block!" Ratchet said, shivering violently and glaring at Clank.

"Where did you get the idea that my body was warm?" Clank asked, on his back due to the Lombax throwing him.

"You have an internal heater to help you maintain heat, right? I thought that your outer metal shell would have been warmed up too!"

"No, Ratchet, my internal heater only maintains heat on the _inside_ of my body. None of it will make it to my metal casing."

"Oh...well that sucks. I was hoping that you could act like a little heater and help me stay warm, but looks like I was wrong about that," the Lombax shivered again, "and now I feel colder than ever. I'm freezing over here while you're there with infinite heat."

"Well, actually, there is something to know about my internal heater. You see, it only keeps me warm until a certain temperature, forty-two to be exact. But, if it gets below that temperature, I will be forced to collect heat on my own."

"And what's the temperature in here now?"

"Approximately fifty one degrees Fahrenheit. So my heater's power is running out."

Ratchet thought to himself for a moment. Alright, so it was getting colder in the apartment, so much so that he was barely staying warm inside of a blanket. And, soon, Clank's heater was going to ditch him and leave him to fend for his own heat. Ratchet would love to just wrap Clank in his arms and keep him warm like that, but the robot's outer shell was as cold as ice and made the Lombax shiver pretty violently. But he couldn't just let his best pal sit there and freeze, and a blanket probably won't have any big effect. So there was really only the one option left, and the thought of it made Ratchet sigh heavily. He had to be strong. He would not allow his best friend to be cold, even if it meant sacrificing his own heat in order to make the little robot warm. As he felt the room become even colder, he noticed Clank becoming slightly uncomfortable, and he twitched a few times. His heater was turning off and the cold was now settling in to Clank's systems. Ratchet gave a look of determination, he had to do it now and get the hard part over with. So, giving another great big sigh, the Lombax grabbed his friend and pulled him into the blanket. He felt the cold metal skin instantly, and he began to shiver. But he help Clank close to him so his body heat would start going in the little bot's direction. Clank gave a concerned and pitiful look, and then he tried to push himself away from Ratchet.

"Ratchet, what are you doing? Your body's temperature is dropping. Let go of me so you can warm back up."

"N-No. I'm f-f-fine, p-pal," Ratchet said with a sort of forced smile, but Clank wasn't buying it.

"I will be fine without heat. The worse that could happen to me is my systems freezing up, or perhaps my gears will have a rough time turning."

"N-Not gon-n-na let th-that ha-happen."

"Ratchet..."

"I'll l-let go of-of you whe-when you a-are w-w-warm enough."

"Alright...I am warm enough."

"Liar."

"Ratchet! I have had enough, let me go this instant!"

"I'm not going to."

"Ratchet!"

"I'm not going to!"

"This is ridiculous! Let me go so I can-"

"Fight me all you want Clank, but I'm not letting go of you! Not again! I'm not going to go through it again!" Ratchet suddenly yelled.

Clank's eyes went wide when Ratchet finished that sentence, and so did Ratchet's. They stayed silent for a few minutes, the only sound that was heard were the winds blowing harshly outside. The snow was thick and made a sort of white veil around their apartment windows. Clank looked up at Ratchet and asked quietly, "Not again? What do you mean not again?"

Ratchet's breath suddenly became heavy, and it was on the borders of hyperventilation. His heart suddenly started racing and his fur stood up on end. All of this frightened Clank a bit. He was about to ask if Ratchet was okay when the Lombax spoke, "By not again, I mean...what I mean is that...I'm scared...I don't want it to happen again..."

"You do not want what to happen again?"

"I don't want it to happen again...I'm not going to let you go...never...I won't let it happen again...I'm too afraid of it..."

"What could you be so afraid of?"

"The...the..." Ratchet took a deep breath "The Zoni...keep the Zoni away..."

"What?" Clank asked with shock and surprise. Since when was Ratchet scared of the Zoni? And what did this have to do with keeping the robot warm? "Why would you ever be frightened by the Zoni?"

Ratchet held Clank tighter as he recalled a certain memory, "They'll find us...and they'll take you...no...not again...don't take my pal away..."

"Ratchet, what are you talking about? The Zoni would never-"

"They've taken you from me once, and they'll take you from me again! History can repeat itself! But I don't want it to! I don't want them to take you away! Not again!" Ratchet yelled as he started sobbing. Clank simply stared at him with an extremely shocked look, wondering what he should say or do. Someone might think of this sudden moment as strange and even pathetic. But Ratchet couldn't help having sudden emotional attacks like this. Whenever he had Clank in his arms, he kept imagining that the Zoni were floating around and watching him, just waiting for him to let go of the robot. And, when he did, he kept thinking that the creatures would swoop down and abduct Clank once again. So if Ratchet was holding Clank and the robot attempted to get out of his arms, sometimes the horrible memories of being separated from his friend would trigger and the Lombax's mind and have a panic attack. He was basically suffering from a sort of PTSD. Though it didn't happen often, experiencing an attack was most horrific. And all of it started when the Zoni kidnapped Clank. It started out as horrible nightmares, but then it evolved into these attacks. Clank was aware of Ratchet's condition, but he didn't expect him to have one right now. Maybe he should have just agreed to stay in the Lombax's arms, then he wouldn't be having this emotional attack right now. He had to calm his friend down, because his heart rate was becoming alarmingly high. So, the little robot reached up and placed a hand on Ratchet's shoulder.

"Ratchet, it is alright. I am aware of your fear of losing me to the Zoni again. But I assure you, that incident will never happen again. I was alone and afraid during those two years as well, so I know exactly how you feel. I would spend all twenty four hours of the day sitting in my conscientious, wondering where you were and if you were still alive or n-not..." Clank paused as he suddenly started choking up. Talking about the two year separation was hard, but Clank usually didn't get this upset while revisiting the memories. But it looked like that this time was different. Ratchet noticed it fairly quickly and still tear filled eyes went wide again.

"Clank...are...are you crying?"

"Wh-What?" Clank asked with a broken voice as he wiped one of his eyes with his hand. Sure enough, light brown oil was streaked across the side of his hand. "It appears that I am..."

"...I'm so sorry, Clank, for suddenly freaking out like that. I probably scared you a bit, didn't I? I'm sorry, pal, I just can't get over what happened...no matter how hard I try," Ratchet said, trying to wipe away the new flow of tears.

"You are not the only one who is trying to forget about all of it. Sitting in that chamber without knowledge of whether you were alright or not, constantly in both fear and pain from the malfunctioning that I suffered from when the Zoni took me, it will forever haunt my memory banks. And there is nothing that I can do about it," Clank sobbed a tiny bit. But he looked up at Ratchet when the Lombax suddenly started chuckling, which confused the robot greatly. "What is so funny?"

"It's nothing, pal. I just think that it's weird that this all started because we were cold. We went from hugging each other for warmth to sobbing because of something that hurts both of us," Ratchet stopped to wipe away a few tears. "But that's okay, it's basically like a reminder that we're best friends, and that we always will be, no matter what happens."

Clank took a moment to think about what Ratchet said, but he smiled happily and nodded in agreement. And he giggled when Ratchet tried to dry his remaining tears with his sweater sleeve. Though, when he tried to turn his face away from the Lombax to avoid his sleeve, Clank caught a glimpse outside. The snowfall had gotten much lighter. It must have been nearly over already. Ratchet noticed his friend staring out the window, so he looked too. When he saw how much the storm had lightened, his ears perked up and he looked down at Clank.

"Hey, let's go onto the roof and check out how much snow we got."

"Are you sure about doing that? There is no telling how much of the snow is currently up there."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. We won't be out for that long, I just want to take a peek at it."

"I just do not think that-AH!"

Ratchet lifted Clank up off of the couch and moved into the position like he was giving the robot a piggyback ride. Clank tried to tell the Lombax that he looked ridiculous when he was like this, but he was ignored. Ratchet quickly went out the apartment door and up the stairs leading to the roof. He could feel the cold of the outside already, and it was making his bones chill. But he planned on being outside for a minute, and he could endure extreme cold for that long. So, the Lombax used his waist to push the door open and a frostbitten wind blew into their faces lightly. Both of their eyes went wide when they saw the roof. There was at least two and a half feet of snow there, and it was...beautiful. The cold substance laid fresh on the roof, and it shimmered in the low light, like pure diamond dust. But the cold was a bit unbearable for such a fantastic sight. Ratchet looked over his shoulder and shook Clank a little.

"Pal, are you seeing this? It's amazing..."

"It is indeed a sight to behold. Fresh snow always seems to appear more stupendously than disturbed snow..." Clank noticed that Ratchet was shaking. He must have been cold. "Ratchet, let us go back inside. You are freezing, and it is only a matter of time before my heater completely gives out...Ratchet?"

The robot looked at Ratchet's face, and he was surprised when he saw the Lombax's happy expression, because there were currently more tears streaming down his face. "A little bit of snowfall...that's all it took."

"What? What are you-?"

Ratchet interrupted Clank by pulling him off of his back and into a tight hug. The robot didn't even ask about what his friend meant by the little bit of snowfall because he was busy enjoying his best friend's embrace. Though he had a thought about what Ratchet was trying to say, he just didn't have the proper voice to say the whole meaning, because he was focusing on what the meaning was. And what he meant by a little bit of snowfall was:

'Though we're as close as even the most dedicated brothers, it only took a little bit of snowfall to bring us even closer together.'

* * *

 **I love longer Weekly Oneshots, it gives me more time to give everyone the feels.**

 **Next week's Weekly Oneshot: Snowflakes in Winter! See, it's like Leaves in Autumn except...Winter.**

 **Oh, I got the new chapter of From Dreams to Nightmares up. This one will give you the feels too!**

 **Make sure to leave a review while picking up your complimentary toaster!**

 **This is Amberdiamondswords, Lordess of Diamond Swordness, pledger to Tobuscus, signing off!**


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